


Feelings Make Things Complicated.

by Lemon_Drizzle_Snek



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Harry Potter, Character Death, Coming Out, First Kiss, First Time, Gay Draco Malfoy, Half-Blood Prince AU, Hogwarts Sixth Year, M/M, Malfoy Manor, Post-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Psychological Torture, Secret Relationship, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2018-09-18 15:17:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9390614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemon_Drizzle_Snek/pseuds/Lemon_Drizzle_Snek
Summary: It's Draco Malfoy's sixth year at Hogwarts and he has a job to do, but Harry Potter is on to him before term has even started. He has to go through with the plan to keep his family safe but with Potter following him around like a shadow and Draco's growing feeling's for Harry, things get complicated.





	1. Chapter 1

Draco Malfoy had been dreading returning to Hogwarts for his sixth year, his life had changed dramatically over the summer and the thought of returning to school no longer excited him as it once had. As he peered out of the train window at the now steadily approaching view of Hogsmeade station he pondered the year ahead with fear and uncertainty, two emotions which he was rather unfamiliar with and were entirely unbefitting a Malfoy. 

 

A small thud came from the luggage rack above his seat and he rolled his eyes. Potter had been hiding up there for the most of the latter part of their journey from Kings Cross, no doubt under his stupid invisibility cloak. He simply couldn't understand how someone with Potters reputation could be so unsubtle, hadn't the prat evaded Voldemort on multiple occasions? Also it seemed as though he was the only person in the compartment who had noticed there unwelcome observer which surprised him considering he was surrounded by his fellow Slytherins. He glanced up at the seemingly empty luggage rack and wondered if Potter was looking back or staring out the window as he had been. Did Potter honestly think that a group of teenagers would be involved with the Dark Lord, himself excluded, obviously. And even if they were involved that they would be privy to Voldemort's plans? Or that they would be openly talking about them on a train on route to Hogwarts, the home and working place of the Dark Lord’s most powerful enemy. The thought of Dumbledore made Draco’s skin go cold, but thankfully the train came to a stop before his thoughts could be dragged any deeper.

 

“Are you coming Draco?” The sickly sweet tones of Pansy Parkinson broke the peaceful silence of the train compartment. He looked up to see Parkinson, Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle were already standing and on there way out of the door. 

 

“You go on, there’s something I need to check first.” He replied. He was met with a look of confusion but they all left and headed towards the platform. He quickly closed the blinds to the compartment and locked the door with a satisfying click. Another thud came from the luggage rack and Draco smiled. “Did you get all of the information you were after Potter? Was hearing all about Parkinson’s family holiday to France and Zabini’s work placement with his father really worth all that trouble? Or were you spying on me for the sake of it? It does seem to have become a bit of a habit of yours.” Suddenly there he was, clattering to the floor in front of Draco with a look of disgust on his face. A thousand thoughts rushed into his head all at once but before he could compose himself properly Potter was talking.

 

“I know you’re up to something Malfoy, something for him! I saw you over the summer in Knockturn Alley with those Death Eaters, you're one of them now aren't you?!” He nearly shouted as he glanced down at Draco’s forearm.

 

“Calm down Potter, so quick to judge! We aren't even off the train yet and you're convinced there’s some sort of plot against you, your little adventures don’t usually start until midway through the year don’t they? And yes, well done. You caught me shopping with some friends of the family. Do you want to do yourself a favour and stop following me around, people will start asking questions.” Draco smirked to himself, but suddenly Potter was reaching for his wand. Draco knew Potter was faster than him, though it pained him to admit it, he had lost far too many quidditch matches due to the other boys speed, but Draco thought that he was probably stronger so he lunged forward throwing the other boy off guard and pinning him against the door of the train compartment and causing his wand to clatter to the ground. 

 

Harry struggled against the door and Draco proved his theory, he definitely was stronger. He eased off slightly but Potter took advantage and immediately lunged for Draco’s left arm. Draco panicked and threw his entire body against the other boy, winding him, he looked him directly in the eyes and wrapped one of his hands around the restrained boys throat, squeezing just enough to stop him from moving. He leaned towards him and whispered in his ear “Don’t push me this year Potter, I want to be here about as much you want me to be so I won’t hold back, I don’t care about school anymore and considering what you did to my father I wouldn’t want to make me mad if I were you.” He stepped back to see Potters flushed face and wide eyes, he almost looked scared. Suddenly all of the anger he had rushed to the surface and before he knew what he was doing Potters nose was cracking beneath his fist. He watched as Harry slumped forward onto the ground, hands on his face, and Draco panicked. He stepped over him and hurried for the platform relieved to see no witnesses on the short journey. 

 

What the hell had come over him? He kept looking behind him the whole way back to the castle, convinced Potter would be after him. Perhaps he didn’t manage to get off the train before it headed back to London. That would make his life so much easier; but no such luck. He hadn’t been sat in the Great Hall for more than two minutes before Potter marched up to the Gryffindor table and parked himself next to the Weasel. Once his friends had stopped fussing over his bloodied appearance his eyes shot over to the Slytherin table and locked with Dracos. A strange mix of pride and guilt washed over him and he found himself looking away towards the top table where the sorting ceremony was well under way. He thought could feel Potter's eyes still on him and he glanced back to the Gryffindor table to see that he wasn't wrong; he tried hard to fight the blush away from his cheeks but this only seemed to worsen the situation. 

 

As soon as the whole song and dance was over he excused himself to his friends, feigning a headache and retreated as quickly and quietly as he could back to the Slytherin common room and down to his dormitory. The room was flickering in the light from the fire, little light from the moon was penetrating far enough into the lake to have any effect of the room so the usual green glow was absent. He quickly changed into his  pyjamas ; black bottoms and a long sleeved fitted white t shirt, climbed onto his bed and closed the curtains. He muttered a silencing charm around his bed and settled back onto his pillows. 

 

His heart was hammering in his chest. How dare he! How dare saint Potter still have this effect on him! It was supposed to just be a crush! Crushes shouldn’t last three years for fucks sake! He was so angry he could cry, how dare his own body betray him like this, he had important things to do this year, he had a job to do! The last thing he needed was to be distracted by such a trivial thing, and to make matters worse Potter already suspected him of something so would no doubt be keeping an eye on him. Oh god his eyes were perfect, the way he had looked at him on the train with his stupid messed up hair and his beautiful flushed cheeks and those perfect eyes, he just couldn’t take it. How dare he make him feel this way! He was supposed to like girls! Back in third year he had decided that this must just be a faze that all guys go through, but no this wasn’t a faze, in his sixteen years he had not once had a girl made him feel the way Potter could by simply glaring at him across a crowded room. 

 

He pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes and groaned. As he pulled his hands away he glanced down and in the half light he could just about make out the shape of his new tattoo through his shirt . He sat up cross legged on his bed and rolled his left sleeve up, it made him feel sick, he hated it, the price he’d had to pay for his family, and now he had a job to do. How in Merlin’s name was he supposed to pull this off? Kill Dumbledore under the watchful eyes of the entire Hogwarts faculty and not to mention stupid Potter and his loyal followers.

 

He heard his roommates shuffle into the dorm complaining about their schedules and inevitably larger workloads. He sighed with envy at their problems which now seemed trivial to him and sunk back onto his bed hoping his dreams would be Potter and Voldemort free. He had no such luck. 

 

* * *

  
  


By the time Harry got back to the common room with Ron and Hermione he had managed to calm down. Well, a bit, he was still pissed with Malfoy but he didn’t want to barge his way into the Slytherin common room and demand retribution any more.

 

“Harry are you sure you don’t want to go see Madame Pomfrey?” Hermione asked for what felt like the billionth time. As they sat on one of the comfy mismatched sofas in the warm, dimly lit room. 

“No i’m fine!” Harry snapped. He looked up at his friends and his face softened, “it's fine, really, Luna fixed me up, nothing hurts and it’s stopped bleeding.” He smiled through the anger and embarrassment.

 

“Ok Harry,” Hermione replied softly, “I’m going to head up to bed, i’ll see you both tomorrow,” she glanced towards Ron, her smile widened, and she headed off towards the girls dormitories. As if that had been the cue they’d had been waiting for, most of the common room soon followed suit so Harry and Ron were left to sit by the fire in peace. 

 

It wasn't long until Ron broke the silence “So you’re sure you’re alright mate?” Harry shot him a warning look from the other end of the sofa. “Yea, yea I know your nose is fine! I mean, I guess what i’m trying to figure out is why you were in there in the first place, I mean, even if Malfoy is a death eater did you really think he would be waxing lyrical about it on the bloody train?”

 

Harry sighed in defeat, “Yea I know, it was pretty stupid, I just, I dunno, after what we saw over the summer, then he looked so shifty at the station,” he paused searching for a reason, but came up blank. “I just know he’s up to something! Even if he’s not a bloody death eater, which i’m sure he is! He said he doesn't want to be her this year, like he’s looking for trouble or something.” 

 

“So let him find it, sounds like if you just leave him to his own devices he’ll get himself kicked out for sure, I mean breaking someone's nose before he’d even left the train, sounds like he really doesn’t give a shit.” Ron paused and looked Harry in the eye, “are you sure you don’t want to tell McGonagall? I’m sure that would speed the process up a bit, you know?”

 

Harry shook his head, “If he gets kicked out now we will never know what he’s up to. If there's any way we can get an insight into what Voldemort is planning, I don't want to just throw that away you know?”

 

Ron nodded, but looked like he didn’t entirely agree, “He’s just such a self righteous git.” he glanced towards the other people who were left in the room, the numbers really were dwindling now. “Right, think i’m going to head up too.”

 

“Yea, good plan.” Harry pulled himself out of the ever growing comfort of the sofa and followed Ron up the stairs to the sixth year boys dormitory. He changed quickly and silently into his  pyjamas , baggy red check bottoms and an oversized navy t shirt, climbed into his bed, the familiar smell comforting him. He wished Ron goodnight before closing the curtains around himself and throwing up a silencing charm. It had become a habit since the end of fourth year. He had so many nightmares, he would wake up screaming and too many times would he look up to see he had woken the entire room up. So he decided to suffer in relative silence. 

 

He was so angry with Malfoy, he knew he had been the one spying, but did that really give him the right to break his sodding nose?! And what the hell was with the strangling thing? He hadn’t mentioned that bit to Ron and Hermione, mainly due to the fact that it confused him. That's why he hadn't run after Malfoy immediately, not because of the pain but because he had reacted in an unexpected way to the other boy's hand around his throat, his heart had been racing at a ridiculous pace had his cheeks had gone so red. He was sure he was just embarrassed by how easily Malfoy had overpowered him but it had taken him a good minute to calm down, in fact, he wasn’t sure how long he would have sat there hunched on the floor of the compartment if Luna hadn’t found him. 

 

Harry tried to push the memories from his mind and concentrate on sleep. Thoughts kept whizzing round and round in his head until finally hours later he drifted off into a sleep, plagued with horrific visions. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Draco was sat on his bed in Malfoy Manor, he had not long woken from a fear filled sleep. He heard a distant scream, he peered out of the window at the lazy summer day and half smiled, but then he saw the hooded figures patrolling the grounds and retreated. He wandered over to the antique mirror above his dresser, he had dark shadows under his eyes and a tear stained face, he looked away in disgust. He knew what leaving the room would mean. Facing him, joining him. The Dark Lord. Two beats past and time shifted, it was dark outside now. He looked up as his mother entered the room, her hand stretched out to him with a sympathetic smile on her face, he looked back at his reflection and he was dressed in formal black robes fastened with the Malfoy crest, his hair had been styled and you could no longer see the fear. A green flash, another scream, his mother's petrified face, his forearm was on fire. Unflinching eyes and sallow skin, but then a voice. An angry voice, an accusing voice. He was no longer in the Manor, the ground was moving. He was in the carriage on the train, Potter was there, he pushed him against the door, but then, those eyes. Those beautiful green eyes, all fear left him and the memory morphed. Instead of attacking him Draco let him go but before Potter had a chance to move Draco stepped forward and kissed him, timid at first but when he wasn't immediately pushed away he deepened the kiss and to his surprise he felt pressure of lips moving on his and his heart leapt. Potter suddenly broke away and pushed Draco onto one of the seats of the compartment and straddled his lap. Draco was wide eyed and panting when the distance between them closed again as lips forcefully met his. His hands curled around the other boys hips and he moaned as the kisses dropped down over his jaw to his neck. He heard him whisper “Draco..” and his heart leapt again, as teeth scraped over his neck he moaned back, “Harry” and almost as an immediate response to this the boy started grinding on top of him, pushing their groins together. Draco couldn’t take it anymore and started panting in rhythm with the boys motion on his lap, “Harry… Harry… Harry…”

 

He heard movement, he shifted slightly and the noises got louder, the light in the compartment was growing brighter and suddenly Harry was gone and he was staring up at the green canopy of his bed. He was panting heavily, sweat on his brow and his cock was achingly hard. Oh fuck! He thought peering around his bed. He had obviously been rather restless as all of the sheets had been dislodged and twisted up. Oh fuck! He had called him Harry! What was wrong with him? He heard more movement in the room as people got ready to head down for breakfast. Thank Merlin he had used a silencing charm, what if he had been moaning, or worse said his name out loud?! He lay there unmoving and wide eyed for another few seconds trying to will his erection away before...

 

“Hey Draco, are you awake?” He heard Blaise ask from across the room. “You are going to miss breakfast if you stay in bed much longer.”

 

Draco quickly sat up and scrambled around for his wand. Locating it under his pillow he disabled the silencing charm and snapped, “Yes, i’m up,” he blushed at his awful choice of words, “you go ahead, i’ll be down in a couple of minutes.” He listened as his roommates left and he drew his attention back to his current… situation. He was not going to wank over a dream about Harry fucking Potter! He quickly decided to concentrate on the first part of his dream, a wave of cold rushed through him and thankfully everything sorted itself out pretty quickly. 

 

He rushed to get dressed and hurried up to the great hall. His thoughts were all over the place, as was his hair, he noted when sat down at the Slytherin table and it flopped into his face. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair and reached for a glass of pumpkin juice. He was desperately trying to not look over at the Gryffindor table, he wasn't sure how he would react when he saw Potter, but it was like when his mother told him he couldn’t do something as a child, now it was all he could think about. Thankfully before the urge took over entirely Blaise started up a conversation which he could easily get involved in.

 

“So what do you think about Professor Slughorn? I asked my father about him and apparently he is pretty good, but surely he can’t be better than Snape? At least he’s still a Slytherin though.”He smiled and glanced at Draco, who nodded in response.

 

“I’m sure he will be adequate, at this stage we know enough of the fundamentals of the subject to fill in any potential gaps in his teachings with our own study.” 

 

“Of course  _ you’ll _ be fine Draco,” Pansy cut in, “You’re amazing at potions, we mere mortals on the other hand may need a bit more help if Slughorn turns out to be… less than adequate. Maybe we could start up our late night study sessions again, hey Draco?” She leant her head on Draco’s shoulder with a sickly sweet smile before kissing him on the cheek and returning to her breakfast. Blaise shot him a suggestive look across the table. Draco hated it when Pansy did this, he had made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that he wasn’t interested. Obviously he hadn’t been that blunt at the time, she is his friend after all but she didn’t seem to be able to take the hint.

 

Draco glanced up at the top table and observed Snape for a moment and decided to continue with the discussion as if nothing had happened, “I’m more interested to see how Snape gets on in Defence, we will finally have a competent, unbiased, teacher in the subject.”

 

Pansy laughed, “unbiased?” she scoffed.

 

Draco smiled for the first time that morning, “alright, biased in the right way instead of towards those big headed, stupid Gryffindors.”

 

“Yea,” Blaise continued, “It will be nice to not have Potter be the centre of attention all the bloody time, we might actually learn something.”

 

Draco finally caved and looked over to the Gryffindor table, he scanned it up and down and to his surprise saw that Potter had decided to not grace the room with his presence that morning. With that a flood of relief washed over him and he finally pulled some food towards him. 

 

“Draco dear?” Pansy continued, “Not that any of us mind at all but what is with your hair this morning? It looks like you literally rolled out of bed and came to breakfast. Now don’t get me wrong that is common practice for most of the people in this room, but not you. Are you feeling ok? Or are you just going for something a little different?”

 

“Umm, yes, I’m feeling ok, just had a bit of a rough night, you know, the headache. I’ll fix it before class.” He paused for a second, suddenly realising that, due to his early departure last night, he was unaware of what classes he had that day, or any day, for that fact. “What is our first class?” He announced to the group as a whole.

 

They all smirked at him “We have potions first, but after that I don’t know as i’ve got Care of Magical Creatures so you’ve probably got Arithmancy or something. I put your schedule on your bedside table last night.” 

 

“Oh, ok, i’ll pick it up before Potions, give me a chance to sort out my hair, otherwise I may have to wear a hat to class” With that Draco stood and left the great hall, heading back to his room in a much calmer state than when he left.

 

* * *

 

“Ok, enough's enough Pansy, leave the poor guy alone with the flirting stuff, did you see how red he went?” Blaise whispered across the table.

 

“Oh don’t be such a bore! He will figure it out one day and the more I keep this up surely the faster it will go right?” She smirked at him.

 

“I know, I know, it’s just he looks so uncomfortable, I feel kinda sorry for the guy.” He glanced around to ensure that no one was eavesdropping.

 

“Which is why i’ve decided to up my game this year, he needs to figure it out and anything I can do to help I will, he’s one of my best friends.” She stopped and looked down at her hands on the table.

 

Blaise reached out and took one of her hands in his, stroking his thumb across her knuckles. She raised her eyes to meet his and he smiled at her. “I know Pans, i’m just worried about him, I get the feeling something has gone down over the summer at home, he was so quiet on the train, then last night with Potter. You know he is always first to wake up in our dorm, he’s usually in the common room studying by the time I get there. And you know i’m pretty sure he cast a silencing charm over his bed last night.” Pansy smirked at this last point, “No not for that reason!” Blaise laughed, “well at least I don’t think so, it’s just, with everything else, I’m gonna keep an eye on him, is all.”

 

“Of course, we all are” Pansy agreed and squeezed his hand, “anyway, we should probably head for class, don’t want to be late on the first day,” she mocked, “you know how it goes.”

 

They both smiled, gathered their bags, and headed out of the great hall and towards the dungeons.

 

* * *

 

Harry awoke with a start to a brisk tapping on the window next to his bed. It took him a second to gather his thoughts enough to realise that that was where the sound was coming from, however, as the dream the noise had dragged him from was still plaguing his thoughts. 

 

He slowly pulled himself into a seated position as he heard Ron grumbling and opening the window between their beds. He scrambled to find his wand to take down the silencing charm and just as he did he heard, “Hey Harry, you've got a letter here, oh, me too,” Harry heard the distinct sound of taring parchment, and a second later, “Oh shit.” 

 

“What's up?” Harry asked, drawing back the curtains around his bed, he took his letter from Ron and opened it. He read it thoroughly, twice. Grinning he looked up at Ron whose expression was as opposite as it could be from Harry's. “I get to do potions! I could still be an Auror!” When Ron did not return his excitement his face fell, “What does yours say?” He asked apprehensively. 

 

“The same as yours it would seem.” He looked back at the letter, finding a second piece of parchment hiding behind the first. “Shit, our new schedule puts our first potions class first thing this morning, we are going to be late! So much for a lie in, late breakfast and a free period.”

 

“Shit” Harry responded, leaping out of bed and changed out of his  pyjamas and into his school uniform as quickly as he could. Ron wasn't nearly as enthusiastic but he played along for Harry's sake. 

 

Ten minutes later they both fell through the potions classroom door, ties half done and hair all over the place, to find the class already underway. Harry apologised quickly and explained the situation to Professor Slughorn who understood and ushered the boys to take their seats. 

 

As Harry looked at the seated students it became clear that their were only two free seats left in the classroom, one next to Hermione, the other next to Malfoy. Typical, Harry knew what this meant, and sure enough Ron turned to him, grinned, and marched over to Hermione's table at the front of the room. With that he was left with no choice but to deposit himself on the chair next to Malfoy. 

 

Thankfully, however, it seemed like the first lesson was simply an introduction and theory lesson so, if he kept his head down and got on with things he wouldn’t have to interact with his unwelcome neighbour. 

 

* * *

 

No no no no no! Why is he sitting there?! He should have just swallowed his pride and sat next to Granger at the start of the class, but it was too late now, he was going to be stuck working with the wonder boy for an entire year. Fantastic! Potter looked like a total mess, his uniform was all over the place and his hair was somehow even more unkempt than usual. 

  
It seemed as though the other boy was trying his best not to look at Draco, a fact that he was currently quite grateful for. He focused his attention back towards the front of the class and tried to preoccupy himself with whatever it was Slughorn was wittering on about. It was not long, however, until his thoughts drifted back to the dream he had had the night before.  


	3. Chapter 3

Harry had spent the first couple of weeks of term trying to keep an eye on Malfoy. He was convinced that he was up to something. His behaviour seemed to have changed dramatically over the summer, he was keeping himself to himself, he didn’t seem to be hanging around with his friends as much as he used to and he seemed to have given up on trying to piss Harry off every second of the day. In fact it seemed as though he was trying to avoid Harry all together, which bothered him. When he mentioned this to his friends he got two possible answers. Ron seemed to think he was probably just keeping out of his way for a bit to avoid any retribution for what had gone down between them on the train. Hermione, however, thought it was probably more broad than that. She suggested that after everything that had happened in the Department of Mysteries before the summer with his father, Malfoy was probably trying to keep a low profile all together. 

 

Harry wasn’t convinced though, Ron’s theory was all together just too un Malfoy and Hermione’s theory, despite being more within Malfoy’s usual nature, didn’t fit with what he had told him on the train, with his hand around Harry's throat. He still hadn’t mentioned that part to anyone, mainly because it was still bothering him. Anytime he thought about it, which was a lot, he would blush for some reason, he had even dreamt about it a couple of times.  

 

Harry had taken to following Malfoy’s movements using the Marauders Map, and if he was ever in one place for any extended period of time whilst Harry wasn't in class he would go and check it out. So far he had witnessed nothing too out of the ordinary. He had found him studying in the library on multiple occasions, reading books which looked like normal school books. He had walked past him in the courtyard surrounded by a load of other slytherins, which again, Harry didn't find out of the ordinary. It was becoming unbelievably frustrating, he was so convinced that if he kept watching he would just catch him in the act. 

 

Finally one evening he was sat on his bed with the Marauders Map watching Malfoy walk down a corridor on the seventh floor when suddenly his name disappeared. Harry's heart leapt; Malfoy was in the Room of Requirement. What could he possibly be using it for? He jumped out of bed, grabbed his invisibility cloak and, ignoring the protests from Ron, ran down to the stairs and out of the common room. 

 

He donned the invisibility cloak and rushed to the seventh floor as quickly as he could. As he approached the blank space of wall which he knew the entrance to the concealed room, he stopped, how was he going to get into the room? How could he be sure he would end up in the same version of the room as Malfoy without knowing what he had asked for? Was it even possible for the room to be two rooms at once if he asked for the wrong thing? He marched over to the wall and thought as hard as he could, ‘I want to see the room that Malfoy is using’ whilst walking up and down. 

 

Nothing happened. 

 

He tried again, but worded it slightly differently.

 

Still nothing. 

 

Out of curiosity he tried something completely different, what he had asked for when setting up DA meetings last year. Nothing. So the room definitely couldn't be two different rooms at once and wasn't going to let him in.

 

He pulled out the Marauder's Map, there was no sign of Malfoy anywhere else in the castle. This suggested that he was still in the Room of Requirement. He stowed the map in his robes and parked himself on a nearby window seat facing the door and waited. Surely Malfoy would have to show himself at some point. 

 

Hours past on the cold hard stone bench with no sign of the blonde. Harry attempted to gain access to the room one more time and failed miserably. He sat and watched the wall for another hour before giving up and returning to his dormitory realising it was only a couple of hours before he would have to be up for class.

 

* * *

 

Draco had been spending most of his evenings in the Room of Requirement with what could only be described as a  _ very _ broken vanishing cabinet. The plan was for him to fix the magical link between this cabinet and the one which was currently residing in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley so that his fellow death eaters could gain access to the castle. Despite the very real threat on his and his family's lives if he did not succeed in this task, he could find very little motivation; he had even spent a couple of nights just sat in the room gazing at the cabinet with fear and trepidation as though it would be the one to hand out the punishment should he fail. 

 

To make matters worse his dreams had been growing in intensity, both the good and the bad. Wait, who was he kidding? Both parts were bad, the Voldemort flash backs were obviously horrific to re-live, the torturing and killing, but now his mind was starting to morph the visions into even more terrible re-creations. And if the horror was interrupted by a visit from Potter he would inevitably wake up with an issue that was very visible through his pyjama bottoms. 

 

There was nothing he could do about his dark memories from over the summer, but he had decided to try and avoid Potter as much as possible. He had stopped glaring at him and mocking him from afar but that hadn't seemed to help; he appeared everywhere he went. Obviously he was there during meals and the classes that they shared, but he would just be sat quietly in the library and Potter would just waltz on by, or out in the courtyard with his friends and he would just appear, seemingly out of nowhere. It was getting frustrating, Potter was definitely following him around.

 

A couple of weeks into term Draco was back in the Room of Requirement. Today had been a bad day, he had run into Potter three times, one of those times he had literally run into him which had done nothing for his nerves. Every time he saw his stupid hair his heart rate increased alarmingly. 

 

He was now sat on the floor opposite the vanishing cabinet trying to concentrate on the task at hand. He could hear rustling and the odd thud reverberated around the room. This he had come to realise was normal, on his second visit he had encountered a bright blue cornish pixie in one corner of the room and after flashbacks to his second year he had decided to stay out of that area for his own good. 

 

He had been in the room for about twenty minutes when he heard a loud boom echo across the room. He had instructed the room to not let anyone else in and to inform him should anyone try to gain access. He ran up to the door as the loud noise went off for a second time. He wondered who it could be, maybe Snape? He had been snooping about his business quite a bit since term had started, not as much as Potter though. 

 

As he wondered about the attempting intruder a small, silver looking glass appeared, hovering next to the sealed door. Draco peered into it to see a view of the the seventh floor corridor which was just outside, but he could see no one there. As the noise went off again, however, he knew there must be someone there, they just weren't visible.

 

Potter! How the hell had he found him in the Room of bloody Requirement?! It was after hours, how long must he have been following him? Since dinner? Or had he been waiting for him outside of the Slytherin common room? If so how the hell did he know where that was? He sure as heck didn’t know where any of the other Houses common rooms were. 

 

His heart was racing, he was just outside, and no one else was around, maybe if he went outside and confronted him he could find out what his problem was. No, he couldn't do it, his dreams about him had become so intense now that he wasn't sure how he could cope in general conversation with him. He would have to wait it out, but how would he know if he had gone or not? Oh for Merlin's sake, he would be stuck here all night at this rate! 

 

So this evening Draco spent his time staring at an entirely different door, a few hours passed and the noise shattered the silence of the room once more signaling that the other boy was attempting to gain access to the room once more. Right, so he would have to spend the night here, there was no other way to ensure that he would avoid Potter. Suddenly a mattress rose out of the floor underneath him, he looked back to see pillows and covers neatly tucked in. Relief flooded over him as he shuffled to the top of the bed and got under the covers, he didn't want to undress in case the noise went off again or if somehow someone got into the room. As he settled down into the now four poster bed he realised that he was surrounded by red velvet curtains, he looked down to see that the covers were in fact red, as were the pillows, and they had little lions on them. Oh for fucks sake, the room must have realised what else he had been thinking about as well. After about half an hour he drifted off into a Harry filled sleep.  

 

* * *

 

Harry woke with a start as a pillow collided with his head, “Come on mate, we’ve got double potions first thing, if you don’t eat anything you could pass out like that guy from Ravenclaw last year.” Harry grunted at Ron in response and rolled out of bed onto the floor. Turns out 2 hours sleep was not enough for Harry to function properly. 

 

He shoved his uniform on, grabbed his bag, pushed his mostly finished potions essay into it and followed Ron down the stairs. They met Hermione in the common room, and headed to the great hall together. Hermione kept throwing Harry sympathetic looks, no doubt believing that the dark circles under his eyes were a symptom of his recurring nightmares. They sat at the Gryffindor table and he automatically scanned the Slytherin table for a shock of white-blonde hair, nothing. Maybe he was still in the Room of Requirement? 

 

* * *

 

 

Draco had been having the best dream, no Voldemort, no death, just Harry. And he was happy. He hadn't felt pure happiness in the longest time and the brief moments between sleep and awareness were truly the best he had had all term. He clinged on to the feeling for as long as he could before reality crashed in. The reality in which he was the bad guy who had fallen for the good guy and nothing could change that. Not to mention all of the other horrific crap in his life. It was nice to be able to escape all of that though, find a place in his mind where the worst thing in his life was the fact that he was pretty sure he was falling in love with Harry Potter, because at his age, that kind of thing was supposed to be like the end of the world, instead of the very real impending threat of the actual end of the world as he knew it. 

  
He rolled over in his Gryffindor bed and sighed. Double potions first, with Potter. This should be interesting. 


	4. Chapter 4

Draco wondered into potions class to find that Potter was already there, which was unusual, he usually ran in seconds before class started or even sometimes after it had started. As he sat down, he glanced at the other boy to find he was looking at him too, he decided to try a different tactic, he smiled at him and to his surprise he actually smiled back, it was nice. A warm feeling spread through his chest and he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He busied himself with unpacking his books, a  couple of minutes passed as they sat in silence waiting for class to start. 

 

Professor Slughorn approached the from of the class and waved his wand. A small cauldron appeared over a flickering flame on his desk as well as the class notes on the blackboard. 

 

“Good morning class, today we will be attempting to brew a very difficult potion, for that reason, as well as the fact that the ingredients are hard to come by, you will be working in pairs with whoever you are sat next to today.” A mixture of reactions came from the class at this, but from Draco's table only silence. “Settle down” Slughorn continued, “Today we will be making Amortentia, can anyone tell me what this is?” Of course Hermione’s hand shot straight in the air and Draco’s face went pink. He knew exactly what it was but he wasn't the kind to answer questions in class. “Yes Miss Granger?”

 

“Amortentia is a love potion, but not just any regular love potion, it’s supposed to be the most powerful love potion in the world and is said to smell different to everybody according to what smells attract them. It is characterised by it’s  mother-of-pearl sheen, and that steam rises from it in spirals.” Granger once more sounding like she had swallowed the textbook. 

 

“Well done Miss Granger, yes, Amortentia is indeed a love potion and your description is very accurate, which makes it a very dangerous potion, as I am sure you are aware by now, potions can not create real love, but only powerful obsession and lust. For this reason I have warded the classroom today, anyone who attempts to remove any of the potion from the room will not be able to do so. Now then, let's get started, you will find the recipe for the potion on page 137 of your books.” 

 

The class room was suddenly abuzz with chatter and noise as people set up their workstations as started to gather ingredients from the store cupboard. “So, how do you want to do this?” Draco looked up to see Potter looking at him from the other end of the table. 

 

Draco could feel himself attempting to stay quiet, but no, he was not going to be that pathetic, he could speak to the guy for Merlin's sake. “Urrr, I would assume that we should do it however it says to do it in the book Potter.” He responded successfully sarcastically. He then pulled his cauldron out from under the desk and started silently setting up the station. 

 

“Right then, i’ll get the ingredients then I suppose.” Draco took a moment to breathe and recompose himself whilst Potter was busying himself in the store cupboard.

 

So it turned out Potter wasn’t as useless at potions as Draco had assumed, not that he would ever admit this of course. It seemed as though he had been doing a load of his own research as the margins of his potions book were covered in notes, most of which Draco agreed with. Once Draco had gotten over the fact that he was being forced to work with the Gryffindor the class actually went quite smoothly. They chatted calmly about the task at hand, worked well together  _ most _ of the time and even made the odd joke about their classmates and obviously the slightly over enthusiastic, babbling Slughorn. Their overly calm state had not gone unnoticed it would seem as Pansy and Blaise kept shooting him baffled looks and even some of the Gryffindors were looking at them with concern. 

 

Draco was pleasantly surprised as to how well he had coped with the situation and he was feeling relatively upbeat considering everything, that was until the end of the class. 

 

Slughorn leant over their potion and inhaled deeply, he smiled and proceeded to stir the contents of the potion slightly, “It’s absolutely perfect! Well done boys, fantastic team work, five points to each of your houses. Have you smelt the potion yet? It is always fascinating to see which scents occur for you.” And with that he dismissed the class

 

Curiosity took over and Draco leant over the cauldron and inhaled tentatively, he could smell grass and burning embers and… the scent which sat next to him every potions lesson. He was no longer having fun, it hurt to have his feelings confirmed so bluntly, especially as he knew they would never come to anything. He quickly cleared up his things, ignoring Potter as he too leant over the cauldron. As soon as he was packed and his station cleared Draco slung his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his robes and headed to the door, pushing through the commotion surrounding one of Potters fellow Gryffindors who was spread eagle on the floor with Slughorn extracting a vile of the potion from his robes. “I did warn you Mr Finnegan,” he head as he exited the classroom with haste. His breathing had become erratic as he searched for a place he could be alone.

 

He soon found himself in one of the boys bathrooms, thankfully there was no one else in there as he was already crying. He felt so pathetic, and so angry that he felt that way, he dropped his bag, along with his robes, rolled his sleeves up and turned the nearest tap on. He started splashing cold water in his face and glanced at his forearm, fear and anger raged through him and he slammed his fists against the nearest wall. It was then that he heard someone else enter the room, he turned around and sure enough, there he was, staring at him with those bright green eyes. 

 

“Are you ok Malfoy?” He asked almost timidly. “You ran off pretty quickly back there.”

 

“Yes Potter i’m fine, not that it’s any of your business, just leave me alone!” He spat back. 

 

“Well you don’t look ok,” Harry stepped towards Draco. Draco simply glared at him.

 

He looked angry now, “What the hell is with you lately?! You attack me on the train, then you spend weeks ignoring me, then you’re nice to me in class for some reason, now you want me to fuck off again?”

 

Draco grabbed his bag and tried to move past Potter to leave the room but he blocked his path, “get out of my way!” He hissed. When Potter didn’t move Draco went for his wand.

 

“Expelliarmus!” The word was out of potter's mouth before Draco’s wand was properly in his hand and now it was half way across the room. 

 

Draco stepped towards him, anger spilling over, “What the hell is your problem Potter, I know you’ve been following me around, just leave me alone!”

 

Potter stepped closer, too close for Draco’s liking, but he wasn't going to back off and look like a coward. “No! I know you’re up to something, you’ve been acting really weirdly all term and you keep sneaking off to the Room of Requirement, I will figure it out, you know it’s only a matter of time, that’s why you’ve been avoiding me for weeks.”

 

“That’s not why i’ve been avoiding you” Draco almost whispered, looking down at his hands. He glanced up and looked straight into those beautiful green eyes, he swallowed hard and his gaze fell slightly to the other boys lips.

 

“Then why..” Draco didn't let him finish. He didn't know what had come over him but he grabbed the Gryffindors robes and pressed his lips onto his, and for two seconds he was happy, before… “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Harry yelled, pushing Draco off him and against the wall behind him. 

 

“Nothing! Shit, I.. i’m sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I.. I… can we just forget that ever happened?” silent tears were once again running down Draco’s cheeks, but Harry hadn’t noticed as he was already halfway out of the door. “Harry wait!” but he was gone. Draco slid down the wall and sat with his head in his hands sobbing for what felt like forever. 

 

* * *

 

Harry’s heart was racing, what the fuck had just happened?! Why the hell would Malfoy do that? When he had left the bathroom he had just kept walking and now he was marching along a corridor, somewhere in the castle, he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going, nor did he have a destination in mind, he was just moving. 

 

He stumbled slightly on an uneven flagstone and was pulled from his trance like state, he looked up to notice he was nearly at the Gryffindor common room. Realising that he had managed to miss the first half of his charms class already he decided to continue on and basically hide in his dormitory until lunch. 

 

By the time he sat on his bed his breathing and heart rate had managed to level out but his mind was still spinning with crazy thoughts. What had just happened? Was Malfoy trying to humiliate him? This was the main thing he had been thinking since he left the bathroom. But he couldn't make sense of it as there had been no one else there to witness it. Was there some sort of wizard recording device somewhere which he didn't know about? But this still made no sense as surly Malfoy wouldn't want people to see him doing that either. 

 

His mind finally calmed down enough for another question to occur; what if it wasn't meant as a joke? What if Malfoy had actually wanted to kiss him? His face flushed crimson almost immediately. Surely not, Malfoy hated him! He had looked so vulnerable though, and he had definitely been crying, and, Merlin, he had called him Harry! 

 

Harry suddenly felt very guilty. Without thinking he ran from the room and headed back down to the dungeons, he knew it was unlikely Malfoy would still be there but if he was he just needed to know, and to apologize for being such a dick. He rounded the corner into the bathroom and sure enough, he was gone. 

 

He walked over to the sink Malfoy had been standing at, he glanced down at something glinting on the floor, a small silver snake. Like the one Malfoy always had pinned on his tie, no, exactly the one he always had pinned on his tie; Harry crouched down and picked it up. It was so shiny, like it had been polished regularly and looked after, why was it discarded on the floor of a bathroom? Harry pocketed it and headed towards the great hall, maybe he would be at lunch and Harry could return it to him. 

 

He had no such luck. 


	5. Chapter 5

Once Draco had managed to pick himself off of the floor of the bathroom he had spent the rest of the day reading a book he didn't care about on the comfiest sofa in the Slytherin common room. He was trying to distract himself from what happened. It wasn’t working. What had he expected would happen? ‘Oh hi Harry, I’ve been a total dick to you for years and now i’m going to kiss you out of the blue’ he was a total moron! He couldn't exactly pretend that he had done it to humiliate him in some way, there had been no one else there! To make it worse he had been crying, and Potter could have seen his arm!  He ran off pretty quickly though so he probably didn’t. 

 

Draco sighed, those two seconds before he had been pushed into the wall has been perfect, his lips were so warm and soft and… “Draco! Where have you been all day?!” He looked up to see Pansy marching across the room towards him with a strange mix of anger and concern on her face. 

 

“I’ve just been here, reading.” She did not look convinced.

 

“You missed lunch and dinner and you are no further along with that book than you were last night!” 

 

“Ok, fine, I wasn't feeling so great so I came back to lie down and the next thing I knew it was dinner time, dunno must have just been really tired or something.”

 

Pansy sat down next to him, grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes with great concern, “My poor Draco,” she cooed brushing his hair from his face.

 

He snapped and grabbed her hand, pulling it away from his face, “Pansy, this  _ needs _ to stop!” She looked taken aback and pretty offended, so he followed up with “look, can we talk?” he glanced around the room, “in private?” She nodded and they both stood up. Draco hesitated before heading out of the common room and towards the potions classroom, he knew of an alcove up ahead which he doubted anyone would be passing at this time of day. 

 

“Look, Pansy, there's something I need to tell you, something I probably should have told you a long time ago but, anyway, umm,” she looked up at him expectantly and his composure faltered. 

 

“It’s ok Draco, you can tell me anything, you know that, we’ve been friends forever. “ She smiled at him.

 

“I’m.. I’m, Merlin, this is harder than I thought it would be, I’m gay, I like guys, I like one guy, shit i need to stop talking!” He met her eyes and to his surprise she was grinning from ear to ear, “What? Why are you smiling? I thought you’d be upset?”

 

“Oh Draco, I’ve known for years! I’ve been trying to get you to tell me by flirting with you, I’m actually dating Blaise,” she paused, “Who now owes me five galleons!” laughing she continued, “He didn’t believe me, anyway, so who’s this guy then?”

 

Draco didn’t respond, he just stood there, mouth slightly open, apparently unable to speak. “Oh Draco, i’m sorry! I didn’t want to force you into telling me, I wanted you to tell us when you were ready,” she grabbed his hand which was now shaking, “come on, who’s this guy? It can’t be that bad! Oh Merlin he’s a Hufflepuff isn’t he?!” No responce, “Ok, Ravenclaw wouldn’t be that bad so.. Gryffindor..?” She probed, Draco, who looked very scared now, nodded once. “Ok, normally you tell me to shut up if i’m going too far, do you want me to know, but you just can’t say it?” He nodded again. She fell silent for a second, obviously thinking. Suddenly she gasped, “This morning in potions, then you ran off and were gone all day, it’s Potter isn’t it?”

 

Draco was crying and nodding, Pansy pulled him into a bear hug and he collapsed onto her shaking. She maneuvered themselves so that they could sit on the floor, her with her arm around him and his head resting on her shoulder, still sobbing. “Oh my poor Dray, what happened in potions class?” She asked pulling him closer. He faltered slightly and half smiled, she hadn’t called him that since they were kids, it was nice.

 

“So no ‘How could you? he’s a sodding Gryffindor, get out of my sight’ and all that?” Draco asked still half sobbing. 

 

Pansy chuckled, “Of course not, I know you, better than you think I do obviously, and for something to upset you this much it has to be serious. I mean you’ve always seemed a bit… preoccupied… by Potter but I just figured that was because you hated him. And so what he’s a Gryffindor, if he made you happy that wouldn’t be a problem, but you are obviously not happy. What happened this morning?”

 

Draco shifted, sitting up against the wall he dried his eyes on his sleeve, taking a breath he looked at her and suddenly he was talking and he just couldn’t stop. “So i’ve had a crush on him since third year, which is a stupidly long time I know, but i’ve kinda just filtered it out, but this term stuff seems to have escalated in my head.. Which hasn’t been helped by the fact that he’s following me around because he’s convinced i’m working for the Dark Lord.” Pansy frowned at this. “So potions classes have been really awkward and today with being forced to work together I thought i’d try not being a sarcastic arse to him, and it was...nice. We seemed to actually get on and we actually managed to brew the potion perfectly, but then…” he paused, collecting his thoughts, “Pansy it smelled like him, the potion, to me it smelt of Harry. I couldn’t take it so I just ran out of class the second I was done. I went to the bathroom but he followed me in there and we got in a fight and… and… I kissed him.” he paused looking down at his hands which were shaking again, “It lasted about two seconds before he shoved me into the wall and run off.” He could feel his eyes welling up again. 

 

“I’m sure if you talked to him, explained maybe? I mean I know the incident on the train probably won’t be helping the situation, but you said you were getting on in class, maybe say you just want to be friends and see what happens?” Pansy was holding his hands again.

 

Draco was shaking his head, “he deserves better than me”.

 

“How can you say that? Draco, you’re family can be a bit over the top and.. well crazy, but you’re such a nice guy once you crack through that ridiculous shell of yours!”

 

“No, but he’s right.” He released his hands from Pansies grasp and slowly rolled up his left sleeve until his entire forearm, complete with dark mark, was visible. Pansy gasped and draco re-covered his arm. “Please don’t tell anyone, not even Blasie, I trust you the most Pans, I’ve missed you so much, i’m so sorry i’ve been such an arse these past few months.”

 

Now it was Pansies turn to cry, “Oh Dray, what have they done to you?” She pulled him into a tight hug, “It’s ok, I forgive you and we will figure this out, together. I won’t tell anyone I promise.”

 

They sat there holding each other for a couple of minutes before Pansy asked, “so what do you want to do?”

 

“I don’t know, nothing yet, I just want time to figure stuff out in my head but it’s bloody impossible with Potter following me around everywhere.”

 

A grinning Pansy held her hand out to Draco “I’ve got an idea that may help with that.” He smiled back at her as they stood up and headed back to the Slytherin common room.

 

* * *

  
  


Harry was aghast, gripping his invisibility cloak tight around himself, heart racing, staring at the now empty alcove close to the potions classroom.

 

He had been trying to find Malfoy all day but with no luck so he had skipped dinner to go and grab his cloak and the marauders map. Spotting that he was in the Slytherin common room he had headed down there on the chance that he may venture out for dinner or even back to the room of requirement. A few minutes after he had arrived outside the entrance, however, he emerged with Parkinson in tow. 

 

He had heard and seen everything and now he was struggling to process the information. He headed away from the dungeons and removed his cloak as it was nowhere near curfew yet and walked in a daze back towards the Gryffindor common room.

 

As he entered the common room he was immediately accosted by Hermione who demanded to know why he had missed dinner “And you still haven't actually explained why you missed Charms class this morning!”

 

“I just went for a walk, and I told you I felt ill after potions class and went to see Madame Pomfrey.” 

 

“Have you forgotten that Dean is in the hospital wing at the moment after that explosion Seamus accidentally set off last week?? We went to see how he was doing after dinner and he said you hadn’t been in all day!” She glanced down and saw the contents of Harry’s hands which he was trying to hide behind his back. “Why would you need your cloak and the map if you were just going for a walk?”

 

At this Ron shuffled over, “calm down Hermione, we don’t need to know where he is all of the time. He’s probably just been obsessing over Malfoy again.” Ron was chuckling to himself but Harry was not amused, he pushed past them ignoring the protests and forced apologies and headed up to bed where he immediately closed the curtains and fell back onto his pillows, furious and confused. 

 

So he was right Draco Malfoy was a death eater, but liked Harry, in an ‘i’m gonna kiss you half way through a fight’ way, enough to confess it to his friend whilst crying. Harry felt awful, he had reacted so badly, he had been genuinely concerned about Malfoy when he had followed him into the bathroom, he had looked so scared at the end of class. But Harry had been so convinced that Malfoy was just being his usual scheming self that not for one minute did he think his actions had been genuine. He always thought he had just hated him. The potion had smelt of Harry to him, he thought back, he remembered smelling treacle tarts, fresh roses, and a third smell which he couldn’t place. 

 

He pressed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets and exhaled loudly. He didn’t know what to do with all of the information he had received in such a short space of time. Sitting up on the bed he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small silver snake pin. Harry watched as the light moved over the carving, it was beautiful. He returned it safely to his pocket and hastily got ready for bed before his fellow Gryffindors decided to retire. 

  
It look him far longer to get to sleep than usual, but when he finally managed it he found his sleep uninterrupted by gruesome images and flashes of green light, instead he dreamt of a bathroom and a boy with pale blonde hair and equally pale skin. A boy who kissed him, and in the dream he didn’t push him away. He kissed him back, it was soft, warm, and comforting, and he didn’t want it to stop. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this has taken so long! Hoping to keep the updates a little less far apart in future...
> 
> **********

When Draco stepped out of the Slytherin common room the next morning he felt calm, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Pansy had kept her word and not told Blaise about everything that had gone on over the summer at the Manor but she had told him about Potter. Blaise had been surprisingly unsurprised about the whole thing and Draco loved him for it, the immense loneliness that had been growing inside him for months had pulled back slightly. Even though there was nothing he could do about what the Dark Lord had planned for him, just knowing that one other person knew and they were on his side made it a whole lot easier. 

 

As they approached the great hall Draco's heart rate began to increase, the thought of seeing Potter again after what he had done yesterday didn't exactly excite him. He glanced at Pansy who gave him a reassuring smile and headed into the entrance hall ahead of him. He waited a few seconds before joining the wave of students heading towards breakfast, to his delight no one gave him a second look as he entered the great hall. He glanced over to the Gryffindor table to see that Potter wasn’t even there yet so with a sigh of relief he headed over to the green quarter of the hall.

 

* * *

 

There were two words to describe how Harry woke up; late and confused. He had no idea what his dreams had meant, he wasn’t gay for a start and even if he was, Malfoy? Really? All he knew for sure was that he had to talk to Malfoy, soon. Whatever Voldemort's plans were with him were they were obviously already underway and it definitely seemed as though Malfoy didn’t want to go through with it. Maybe Harry could help him? 

 

Harry rushed to get dressed and ran down to the great hall immediately scanning the Slytherin table for the blonde but he was nowhere to be seen. He quickly sat down in his usual seat and grabbed a slice of toast, now watching the entrance of the room. It wasn’t until something collided with the side of his head that he raslised that background noise he had been ignoring was someone was talking to him. “Oy! Harry! What the hell mate? Whats with you at the moment?”

 

“Shit guys, i’m sorry, I was miles away. Whats up?” He quickly feigned interest. He turned around to see Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, who seemed to have abandoned the Ravenclaw table all together now, staring at him. “What?” 

 

“We were just discussing quidditch, first game of the season coming up!” Ron pushed, enthusiastically. 

 

“That was last week Ron, remember? Hufflepuff wiped the floor with Ravenclaw. It was really quite something to watch,”

 

“Pffffff,” Ron, cut Harry off, “Naa Mate, it was alright, but our first game is gonna be something else! Slytherin stand no chance! I mean Malfoy has never beaten you to a snitch, not once, it’s going to be epic!”

 

Harry had totally forgotten about Quidditch, he had been to tryouts, but no one else had tried out for seeker and he had only half been attending the practice sessions, there's only so much you can do with ‘ _ Harry, you just do what you do’ _ . The new Captain wasn’t nearly as good as Oliver had been, but he was off with the Chudley Cannons being amazing. Harry had been offered the Gryffindor captain position but turned it down, much to McGonagall's dismay. He was pretty sure that this was why the new captain wouldn't give him any instruction. He was now seriously regretting turning the position down but it would have been incredibly stressful on top of everything else, especially now with this Malfoy situation. 

 

He glanced back over to the Slytherin table but Malfoy was still not there. He slipped his had into his pocket and absentmindedly played with the Slytherins’ pin badge which he had stowed there. He had no classes with him today, but he had the map and his cloak in his bag just in case. He had no class straight after lunch so that would be a good opportunity to try and find him, technically he had told Ron they would go down to the pitch and practice with their game being only a few days away, but he would figure out a way to get out of that, this was really important. 

 

Harry couldn’t deal with this, he got up, muttering something about having forgotten books for their first class and left the great hall in a hurry. He pulled over into the nearest secluded alcove and pulled out the map, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good” he muttered with his wand touching the parchment. And eruption of ink snaked its way across the map and he started searching.

 

* * *

 

Draco watched as Pansy’s gaze followed who he knew to be Potter across the room from the Gryffindor table and out of the Hall. “He’s gone,” she smiled at him, “see, I told you it would work!”

 

Draco returned her smile, “Thanks Pans,” and he really was grateful, he just knew that this plan wouldn’t work for long, the next time they had class together Potter was bound to see him, but for now, at least, he had put off the inevitable fight.

 

* * *

 

 

Ten minutes later Harry was getting angry, he has searched every inch of the parchment and found nothing, Malfoy wasn't in the Slytherin common room or dormitories, nor in the dungeons at all, he wasn't in any of the classrooms, or grounds, and Harry couldn't see him in any of the corridors. He sighed and started folding up the map, as he did the great hall came into view and he saw the name! Malfoy, at the Slytherin table with Zabini and Parkinson! How the hell had he not seen him? He shoved the map into his bag and headed back to the great hall, as he rounded the corner a massive wave of students poured out of the hall on their way to their first classes. Through the throng of people Harry couldn’t see Malfoy anywhere and by the time he made it back into the Hall he must have left as there were only a few first year stragglers left at the Slytherin table.

 

Exasperated, Harry headed off to his first class, now determined to find the other boy either at Lunch or if not soon after.   
  


 

* * *

 

 

 

Lunch had come and gone and Harry hadn’t seen Malfoy anywhere. It was getting ridiculous. He had been glued to the map all day and as far as he could tell Malfoy was having a very normal day, he just wasn’t where the map said he was! He was so preoccupied in the search that he nearly missed his last class of the day. 

 

He half ran into the greenhouses to be met by what could only be described as a full on death glare cutting its way through the greenery from Ron Weasley. ‘Oh SHIT!’ Harry had totally forgot about Quidditch practice, and not going, and that he actually had to talk to Ron about that, and oh shit, he was now gonna have to explain what the hell he had been doing, and there wasn't much he could do as he still had the damned map in his hand..! 

 

Head slightly bowed he shuffled over to his seat next to Ron and braced himself, “Where the bloody hell have you been?! We said any free classes we had we would go to the pitch, but not only do you no-show but you have obviously been stalking Malfoy again! Why else would you need that sodding map out? You know where the greenhouses are!” Ron hissed at him.

 

Harry was trying so hard to fight the blush which was spreading across his cheeks. “ I know, i’m sorry, I meant to tell you but I got… distracted. He’s definitely up to something, something bad. I.. I saw him. I’ll tell you later, and Hermione. I just haven't been able to find the git today. Every time I get to where he is on the map I can’t see him anywhere!”

 

Ron didn't look convinced, he opened his mouth to respond but was cut off,

 

“Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, if you have quite finished hissing at each other, I would very much like to start today's class!”

 

“Sorry Professor,” they both mumbled.

 

Harry immediately started planning which bits of everything that had happened he would tell his friends and which bits he would leave out. He knew that the second that they all got back to the common room he would be cornered and he had to be ready. Telling his extremely loud best friend who was known for over reacting to even the smallest of revelations that he had been kissed by none other than Draco Malfoy was not something he wanted to do, especially considering that a small part of him, a very small part, may have enjoyed it despite the initial shock. The blush started spreading across his cheeks again so he started attempting to write notes about whatever it was Professor Sprout was saying. 

 

* * *

 

Potter had been following Draco all day, he had no idea how but anytime he left a classroom, went to the library, or went to the great hall; there he was, scanning the crowd. But, amazingly, he hadn’t clocked him once. He definitely had to thank Pansy, but he genuinely couldn’t believe how unobservant Potter was, it wasn't like he had stolen his invisibility cloak or anything. 

 

He had decided to skip dinner and was now back in the safety of the Slytherin common room. He was planning on heading back to the cabinet later that evening, he felt like he was near to a breakthrough with some of the charms he was using to fix the magical connection between here and Knockturn Alley. This both relieved and petrified him. He thought of Lucius and how disappointed he would be if he didn't succeed, disappointed was probably not the right word, fucking furious, nay murderous was probably more accurate. If he failed his mother would be the first to go, probably by Voldemort's hand, he would probably have to watch, then the wand would be turned onto Draco and it wouldn’t be quick, and Lucius would just watch, he had never cared about Draco, he would think he deserved the pain, the humiliation; he was the weak link in the chain, undeserving of the Malfoy name. 

 

Draco shivered, willing the tears not to fall, he was stronger than this. He knew with a few tries, a few more charms, just a few more tests, he could do it, he could open a door into Hogwarts, but what then? His friends would be in danger, people would die, he would have to go through with murder, and Pott.. Harry.  If Harry somehow survived the attack he would know what Draco was, he would know what he had done, whom he had…  _ killed _ . That would be that, no saving the death eater's son, well, he rubbed his forearm, the death eater. 

 

A few minutes passed with him just sat there imagining all of the possible horrific conclusions which his current endeavours could lead to and just as he was about to head off to the seventh floor Blasie broke his concentration. “Oy, Draco, you coming to practice or what?”

 

Draco rolled his eyes, “I told you already, i’m not playing Quidditch this year!”

 

“I’m sorry, but you are, no one else who tried out was nearly as good as you, and plus, I think it would be a good distraction for you,” Blaise winked at Draco which made him wince, if only he knew the full extent of what he needed distracting from.

 

He thought about it for a few seconds, maybe it would be a good idea, do something for himself, maybe even throw Potter off the scent for a bit. Ok, but he wasn't going to act happy about it, “Fine! If everyone else is so bloody incompetent then I guess i’ll have to! I’ll grab my stuff and meet you at the pitch.” He stormed off to his room, leaving Blaise grinning from ear to ear. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Harry was basically frog marched over to a particularly misshapen sofa on the edge of the Gryffindor common room by Ron who grabbed Hermione on the way over. Ron sat him down, pulled a chair over and sat in front of him. “Ok then, spill, what the hell has been going on with you?”

 

Harry took a second to compose himself “Ok, so, let me finish before you say anything,” he obviously pointed at Hermione, he leant forward and continued in hushed tones, “Draco Malfoy is a death eater,” Hermione immediately scowled and opened her mouth to say something but managed to stop herself. “He’s got some sort of job to do,” Harry continued, “ something Voldemort has told him to do, it’s bad, it’s definitely bad and he doesn’t want to go through with it but I think he feels like he has to, I don’t know why. He’s been going to the Room of Requirement almost every night, and yesterday…” he trailed of slightly, “yesterday we got into a fight, that’s why I missed charms. We had almost been getting along in potions, but then he ran out at the end of class with this weird look on his face, so I followed him. He ran into the bathroom in the dungeons and he was,” Harry paused as he relived the memory, “He was crying. He got really mad that I had seen him, so yea, we fought, you know what we get like. Later on though I felt really bad because he had been so upset so I took the map and the cloak and found him in the dungeons, he was with Parkinson, he showed her his arm, he's got the dark mark, I saw it.” Hermione gasped at this, Ron just maintained his scowl. “He seems really scared though, I think he needs help, not that he would accept it from me though. I’ve been looking for him all day but every time I get to where the map says he is he isn’t there. He’ll probably be in the Room of Requirement now though.

 

“No he won't,” Ron instantly retorted, “he’ll be on the quidditch pitch, Slytherin have practice tonight, which you’d know if you’d been coming to practice,” he grumbled.

 

Harry pulled the map out of his bag and instantly saw Malfoy's name floating around the pitch “you guys want to go on a little walk in the fresh air?” he smirked.

 

“Yea sure, gives me a chance to spy on their game plan for the match,” Ron grinned.

 

Both boys stood up and Hermione just looked on in disbelief. “So we aren't going to talk about any of this, we are just going to spy on a Quidditch practice? Don’t we need some sort of plan to find out what Malfoy is up to, what Voldemort is planning?”

 

“Well yea, Harry is gonna keep on following the weirdo around until we know what’s going on, then we will have the good old fashioned sit down and figure this shit out. Until then can I please just enjoy beating Slytherin in this sodding game? It’s the little things, you know?”

 

Harry beamed at Ron, he could always count on him. He turned to Hermione, grinning, he shrugged at her and said “shall we?” motioning out of the window towards the pitch.

 

“Fine.” She sighed, letting it go, for how long Harry could only guess, but for now he wasn’t getting the third degree on anything he had said, which was amazing because anytime he thought of that bathroom or Malfoy crouching in that alcove his heart rate increased dramatically and he got all flustered. Hermione would be bound to notice, she always noticed things like that, he wasn’t sure if that was a girl thing or just a Hermione thing but he was glad to be avoiding it for now.

 

* * *

 

All three of them were huddled under the invisibility cloak as they neared the pitch. They could clearly see green robed figures darting all over the place but Harry still couldn’t see Malfoy. “What the fuck?! He’s not here! There must be something wrong with this sodding map!”

 

They stopped a safe distance away, all three of them still huddling under the cloak; which was getting difficult nowadays. Ron was focused on the Slytherin Chasers as Harry continued to scan the sky getting more and more frustrated. It was then that Hermione started laughing causing both boys to turn and look at her.

 

“Now correct me if i’m wrong,” Hermione giggled, “as I do know so very little about Quidditch, but Malfoy is the Slytherin seeker is he not?” Harry nodded, “so,” Hermione continued, “would that not be him there diving for the tiny golden ball next to the goal posts?” Harry squinted at the figure as both Ron and Hermione burst out laughing. “Oh Harry, you are possibly one of the most unobservant, oblivious people I know, Malfoy is right there, and honestly has probably been there all day watching you look for him.” Harry looked puzzled as his cheeks warmed up.

 

Both of them waited for the penny to drop, but as seconds passed, Ron broke the silence, “Mate, he’s  just died his hair brown! You’ve just been searching for platinum hair in crowds of people haven’t you? If not, may I suggest a trip to Madame Pomfrey as you're eyes are clearly deteriorating.”

 

Harry was now bright red, there was no way! He concentrated on the flying figure in question and.. It was, it was Malfoy and he felt his heart rate increase slightly. “Right”, he cut through the laughing of his two best friends, “so what now? I can’t exactly talk to him now can I so what?”

 

Ron composed himself, badly, “well we can stay here and spy on him like you’ve been doing practically every other evening this term. Or I dunno, we could just head back to the common room?”

 

With that Harry pushed his way out from under the cloak and stormed back across the grounds towards the castle.

 

* * *

  

Draco was actually really enjoying playing Quidditch again. He hadn’t played all summer for obvious reasons, and honestly he had had no intention of ever playing again but he was so glad that Blaise had insisted. As he soared above the Quidditch pitch he felt like he could finally breathe again. A weight which he had not known was there had lifted off his shoulders and he felt light as a feather. He was able to finally let go of all of the crap in his head, if only for a few hours. As though it was still fifth year and the most important thing on his mind was studying for exams.

 

As he pulled up out of what could only be described as an epic dive for the snitch, which of course he had caught with ease, he saw him. He was running away from the quidditch pitch back towards the castle and suddenly the weight of it all fell back down onto Draco and he actually faulterd on his broom. Had he seen him? Wait, why would that matter? He was just flying. He looked back across towards his fellow players and realised that the practice was finishing up anyway. He came back down to earth in more ways than one and headed to the changing rooms.

 

* * *

 

Of course Harry had not gone back to the Gryffindor common room. He had instead headed down to the dungeons and was hanging around to accost Malfoy on his way back after practice. It was not creepy at all. In no way weird… he tried to convince himself. He heard the team coming down the corridor and stepped round a corner as to not announce his presence too early. As expected Draco was at the back of the group at least a few steps behind the rest of the team. Harry let the team disappear into the Slytherin common room before he grabbed Dracos wrist and pulled him back.

 

Harry hadn't thought this plan through, in fact it’s possible he had never thought anything through less. He wasn’t sure how he thought this would ever end any other way but he was now winded, backed up into a wall with a very angry Draco Malfoy pointing his wand in his face.

“What the fuck Potter?! What the hell do you think your playing at?!” Harry let out a shaky breath before he said anything.

 

“Nice hair Malfoy.” He regretted this instantly as Malfoy stepped closer now pressing his wand, painfully,  into Harry’s forehead.

 

“Stop following me around you creep. Just, just leave me alone!” He stepped back and headed towards the common room.

 

“Malfoy, wait,” he hesitated, but didn’t stop, “Please Malfoy, I’m sorry!” Harry called after in desperation, but it was too late. He was gone.   


 

* * *

 

Harry dialed down his attempts to talk to Malfoy over the next few days. He didn't really want any more broken bones or to be slammed into any more walls. The broken bones thing was just sensible, but the walls thing… it had happened twice now and Harry was concerned by the fact that both times his first reaction had not been to throw him off or push him away.

 

Saturday rolled around and with it, Quidditch. Harry had his usual pre-game nerves, but they spiked as he looked up to see the Slytherin team walk into the Great Hall at breakfast, right in the centre was Malfoy, back to his usual blonde with a steely look on his face.

  


* * *

  


It had felt right to dye his hair back to its original colour, especially for quidditch. He had really liked having it brown, it felt like an escape, made him look less like Lucius, but it wasn’t him. So he asked pansy the night before the game as she was way better with her cosmetic charms than he was, and now he was back. He felt empowered, he had stood up to potter, in a small way yes, but he had reaffirmed his strength. He was more prepared than Potter was for this game and now he was back to his usual self. He almost felt confident.

 

At breakfast he glanced at Potter who was of course looking at him and Draco scowled back. He even ate before he headed down to the pitch with the rest of the team.

 

It was a tight game. It pained Draco to admit it but both keepers were really good. Only a couple of goals had been scored by both teams, leaving them tied. It looked like it was between him and potter to decide the game.

 

The weather turned and the rain started to pour, cold sheets of rain battered the players as Draco searched and searched for that tiny speck of gold. He saw it, at the base of the Slytherin goal posts. Potter was closer but he was looking the other way so Draco accelerated. It was only seconds before Potter spun around and was in pursuit closing the gap in moments. They were neck and neck, the shouts went up around the pitch, cheers from all houses as they chased the now moving ball. They were gaining on the snitch, Draco was just ahead of Potter, but from experience Draco knew it wasn’t over yet. He glanced over at the Gryffindor, who to Dracos surprise was looking right back at him, not the ball. Now only feet from the prize Draco pulled even further ahead and with a mighty roar from the green end of the pitch he closed his fingers around the tiny golden ball.

 

It took a second for it to sink in. He had actually done it, he always knew he could, but never thought he would actually beat him, something was always against him. Here he was, he had won the game for Slytherin, his teammates surrounded him cheering as they descended towards the ground in a sea of green.

 

By the time Draco had hugged everyone for what felt like the hundredth time and he was heading back to the castle there wasn’t a single Gryffindor player let in sight. He was slightly disappointed by this, as for the first time that year he felt like his old self again and wouldn't mind rubbing their faces in his victory.

  


* * *

  


The Gryffindor common room was pretty subdued. Most of the team were huddled in one corner discussing different plays and tactics for the next game, Harry, however, was on his own in the opposite corner. He had already changed into baggy jeans and a hoodie, he was slouched cross legged in an armchair, hands in pockets and his hood up. In his effort to fade away he could not look more conspicuous.

 

Ron had been trying to give him space but he couldn’t deal with his best mate looking like that so he wondered over, “You alright mate?”

 

Harry seemed startled by the words as he had been staring off into space, “Yeah, i’m fine”.

 

“You don’t look fine,” Ron pushed, “You know it’s not all on you right? I mean there was an entire team out there, Malfoy just had the edge today I guess.”

 

At Malfoy’s name Harry’s eyes finally snapped up to Ron’s. A look somewhere between hatred and fear across his face. “Whow man! Did he do something? Did the dirty bastard hex you or something?”

 

Harry’s eyes softened slightly, “No, he was just” harry swallowed and looked away, “He was just better than me.” Harry shifted in his seat, “I’m gonna go to bed.” He stood and headed towards the dormitory.

 

“Ok… you know it’s only like 3 o’clock right?” Ron called after him. But harry had already gone.

 

Harry climbed onto his bed, drawing the curtains around him and throwing up a silencing charm as he collapsed back into his pillows. He was reliving it again. He had to leave the common room, he didn’t want to look like a saw loser in front of everyone, or like he was feeling sorry for himself, which based on Ron’s reaction he definitely did.

 

It had all been fine, he was gaining on Malfoy, he knew that in a few more seconds he would have the edge and pull ahead, he glanced over at Malfoy, and then he couldn’t look away, he looked so strong and happy, he hadn’t looked like that all year. Then he had looked back at Harry and his eyes, the icey blue just shone through the rain and Harry had practically swooned on his broom. Then it was over, Malfoy had caught the snitch and Harry had lost the game for Gryffindor because he had a crush on the opposition.

 

Oh Merlin! He had just admitted it in his head! He had a crush on Draco Malfoy. This was weird, uncharted territory. Not that he had been any good at dealing with his past crushes, it always tended to end in disaster and him being unbelievably awkward. As bad as the experiences were, at least he had experience with girls, how the hell do you approach a guy with this crap? Well at least he knew the feelings were mutual… surly that took most of the awkwardness out of it?

 

Holy shit! Why was he thinking about this?! There is no way he could go down this road with him, Draco is a death eater, his entire family are on the wrong side of the fight. Draco's face flashed across his mind, tears staining his face, trembling as he showed pansy his arm. Harry sat up, he couldn’t be with him, but he could help him. Maybe if he knew what he was doing? But based on what happened last time, he should probably stop following him around. He leant over to the side of his bed and pulled out the Marauders Map, Draco was still in the dungeons. Maybe if Harry went to the Room of Requirement now he could get some insight into what Draco was up to without starting a fight. Draco would be celebrating all night so he should have enough time to figure something out.

 

Harry grabbed the cloak, not wanting to alert Ron or Hermione to his absence, and headed to the seventh floor.

  


* * *

  


Draco had been back at the common room for about an hour when it happened. His left arm started burning. He had felt this pain a few times over the summer and knew it was usually far more intense than this. Which lead him to believe that he wasn’t being summoned anywhere. He stumbled back to his dormitory and found a note on his bed. It had the Malfoy seal on it, the wax was still walm. His arm stopped burning as he picked it up with trembling hands.

  
  


 

 

Draco,

 

I hear congratulations are in order. Your Mother was saddened to hear that you had let yourself be distracted by such an insignificant pass time. She trusts that due to your reckless behaviour you must be close to completing your task.

I hope, for your sake Draco, that this is correct. I do know how much you would hate to disappoint your Mother.

 

I trust to hear from you soon,

 

Lucius Malfoy

  
  


 

 

Draco was shaking, he wasn’t sure how to feel, or what he was feeling. He just knew he needed to get to the Room of Requirement. Open that awful cabinet, he had to save her.

 

He changed quickly and marched through the common room, ignoring the questions being thrown at him. He reached the quiet of the dungeons and headed to the seventh floor.

 


End file.
